


a child is a child is a child

by thegirl



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Pre-Series, Robert centric, Robert's Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 01:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4000570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegirl/pseuds/thegirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A child is a child is a child. Those had been Varys’ words. He knows that the Spider has been out for himself ever since Aerys was toppled from his throne of barbs and blood, but the words will not stop whirring around his head.</p>
<p>Was it true for every child? Even this child? This child, born of the rape of the woman he loved by the man that stole her from him, even in death. 	Even this child? The last child of the man he killed on the Trident, the last and first and only child his love had ever, or would ever, have?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Prompt: AU: Robert accompanies Eddard to the Tower of Joy and sees Lyanna die with her son in her arms, begging that Jon be spared his half-siblings' fate. Even if she didn't chose to go with Rhaegar and have his child, her son means the world to her. How does Robert react to this?</p>
<p>Link: http://asoiafkinkmeme.livejournal.com/22515.html?thread=15755251#t15755251</p>
            </blockquote>





	a child is a child is a child

**Author's Note:**

  * For [broomclosetkink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/broomclosetkink/gifts).
  * Inspired by [King Rob, Good and Brave](https://archiveofourown.org/works/817726) by [broomclosetkink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/broomclosetkink/pseuds/broomclosetkink). 



> I did this as a bit of a double side to King Rob, Good and Brave - if Lyanna had died and Robert had been left with Ned and Jon and a whole lot of confusion. So this little work is dedicated to broomclosetkink and their wonderful fic being really nice to Robert, which I love so much I wanted to do a dark side to it and came across the perfect prompt for it. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

_Robert, Robert- my baby, he’s only a baby, it’s not his fault, he’s only a baby, my baby, please, please, Robert, spare my child, he’s only a baby, he’s done nothing wrong, Rhaegar is dead, I am avenged, Rhaegar is dead, please, Robert, sweet, my baby, spare my baby, keep him safe, Ned, Ned, please, keep him safe, Robert, Robert, I am avenged, please, he’s not to blame for his father, please, please, spare him- SPARE HIM- ROBERT- PROMISE ME! PROMISE ME!_

The King of the Seven Kingdoms wakes with a start for the third time in one night. His body is drenched with sweat and by his sides his hands shake.

He knows, of course, it is wrong to kill the child, any child. And with this one, unlike the others, he would be the one giving the order. It would be defying his love’s dying wish, and Ned has already made it clear if Robert does... _kill_ the child then their history together will mean nought.

A child is a child is a child. Those had been Varys’ words. He knows that the Spider has been out for himself ever since Aerys was toppled from his throne of barbs and blood, but the words will not stop whirring around his head.

Was it true for every child? Even this child? This child, born of the rape of the woman he loved by the man that stole her from him, even in death.    Even this child? The last child of the man he killed on the Trident, the last and first and only child his love had ever, or would ever, have?

Was this child like all others? Or would he grow up as mad as his sire and grandsire, as terrible?

A child is a child is a child.

This child could have been his child, in another life. But it was not, and instead the blood of the dragon ran through his tiny, paper thin veins.

_I am avenged._ Lyanna had said it again and again in her bed of blood. Robert does not know whether Lyanna knew how much he had done to avenge her honour - the blood and the death, the fire and the loss and the screams, the part of himself that hadn’t been some kind of monster that thrived on the clash of swords and dying breaths.

He will never not be this man now. He will never not be this killer now. He will never not be this monster now.

So why should he spare the babe? The little boy with his mother’s eyes?

And, after all that, after her death in a fucking tower, after Robert has torn down every dragon statue, carving and tapestry, hidden away every dragon skull and had children lain at his feet, their dragon blood seeping into the cobblestones, there is dragonspawn sleeping, breathing, living in the next room.

_I live on,_ Rhaegar Targaryen’s shade taunts him. _I live on in my son, in the memories of men. I live on. You have not destroyed me yet._

A child is a child is a child.

Robert claws at his scalp, and all he can see is Lyanna’s dying face, all he can hear is Ned’s voice telling him if the child is harmed they will never be brothers again, all he can think of is Rhaegar Targaryen not being gone from the world, not truly, not properly, not yet.

And then, heart heavy and head aching, Robert goes back to bed.

He will think on it on the morrow, he tells himself.

An hour later, Robert bolts upright in his bed again and prepares himself for a long night.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review to tell me what you think of the idea :)


End file.
